A variety of movies coming to rent or see at theaters this week, some good, some bad…

New this week in Theaters (Friday): “Bridewars”, “Not Easily Broken”, “Revolutionary Road” (limited), “Gran Torino” (Grand Rapids)

New this week on DVD (Tuesday): “Pineapple Express”, “Righteous Kill”, “Babylon A.D.”, “Bangkok Dangerous”, “Disaster Movie”, “The Wackness”

.

.

MY TAKE ON WHAT’S NEW ON DVD: Okay, I know I’m one of the few people who actually liked the Pacino/DeNiro movie “Righteous Kill”, but if you listened to most critics and waited to rent it, now’s the time to see it.  

The other five movies I haven’t seen but have varying levels of concern: “Pineapple Express” is a stoner/action/comedy that was well received by some audiences and critics, “Disaster Movie” is another farce by the producers of all those other recent spoof movies, “The Wackness” got some good reviews by the limited audiences that saw it… it also has a *pot* plot.

And then there are the box office stinkers “Babylon A.D.” and “Bangkok Dangerous”, yes the second was #1 the week it opened, but there was nothing else in wide release that week, audiences for both movies dropped signigicantly the 2nd week at the theater and by the way scored very low on most reviews.

Looking for other rentals?   Check out these movies:
“The Dark Knight” (9.5 / 10)
“Eagle Eye” (8.5 / 10)
“Wanted” (8.0 / 10)
“Burn After Reading” (8.5 / 10)
“Traitor” (7.5 / 10)
“The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian”

- - -

.

.

MY TAKE ON WHAT’S NEW IN THEATERS: 2 Oscar contenders, a romantic comedy aimed at the ladies, and a romantic drama.  “Gran Torino” was filmed in Detroit and Clint Eastwood has said its his last acting appearance, although he plans to keep directing, Eastwood has received several nominations for his acting in “Gran Torino”.   “Revolutionary Road” is a drama starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslett, it also has been nominated for some awards.  “Bride Wars” is the light-hearted “date” movie of the bunch about two friends Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway who dream of having their weddings at the same hard-to-book location.    I’ll have a review of “Bride Wars” later this week after a press screening.   “Not Easily Broken” is a movie I haven’t heard much about, but its about a couple and how a life-changing event tests their relationship. 

MY REVIEWS OF MOVIES CURRENTLY PLAYING IN THEATERS: 

(more…)

“Beverly Hills Chihuahua” number one again at weekend box office

New movies last Friday: “Body of Lies”, “City of Ember”, “Quarantine”, “The Duchess” (wider release)

“Quarantine” was 2nd - more than making up its entire $12 million budget in one weekend… which is good because it was disappointing to a lot of viewers, so its numbers ARE GOING TO DROP NEXT WEEKEND… 
“Body of Lies” (15 to see this Fall/Holiday Season) should have opened stronger given the cast of Crowe and DiCaprio, but the subject matter may have kept some away…
“The Express” was 6th - perhaps because the general public didn’t realize it was about more than just college football… 
“City of Ember” made about what I thought it would when I first saw the trailer, but I thought last week’s success of another family movie (”Chihuahua”) would have helped it to higher than 11th place…. 
“The Duchess” move into wide release moved it up from #20 to #9.

TOP 10 WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (actual results):

1. “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” - $17.50 million
(2nd week, 2nd week at #1, lost 40% of its audience from last week)

2. “Quarantine” - $14.21 million (1st week)

3. “Body of Lies” - $12.88 million (1st week)

4. “Eagle Eye” - $10.91 million
(2nd week, was #2 last week, lost 38% of its audience from last week) (more…)

“Beverly Hills Chihuahua” number one at weekend box office

New movies last Friday: “Beverly Hills Chihuahua”, “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist”, “Appaloosa” (limited), “An American Carol” (limited), ”Flash of Genius” (limited), “Blindness” (limited)

I didn’t make a prediction going into last weekend, but if I did, I can honestly say that I didn’t think “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” would be your number one movie this week… c’mon people… I know its a fun family movie from the folks over at Disney… and the other good looking movies were in limited release…. but it was #1 by more than $11 million dollars… yikes… at least I know it will get bumped by “Body of Lies” or “City of Ember” this coming weekend.

So make that back to back weeks with a surprise, last week’s surprise #4 - the Christian themed “Fireproof” starring Kirk Cameron was #8 this week… I was hoping for better numbers for 2 of my 15 to see this Fall/Holiday Season:“Appaloosa” and “Blindness” BUT THEY are not in wide release *yet*.

TOP 10 WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (actual results):

1. “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” - $29.30 million (1st week)

2. “Eagle Eye” - $29.20 million

(2nd week, was #1 last week, lost 39% of its audience from last week)

3. “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist” - $11.31 million (1st week)

4. “Nights in Rodanthe” - $7.37 million

(2nd week, was #2 last week, lost 45% of its audience from last week)

5. “Appaloosa” - $5.05 million (1st week - wider, but limited release) (more…)

“Eagle Eye” leads weekend, “Fireproof” makes a surprising showing

The political/conspiracy thriller “Eagle Eye” did not disappoint, but the other new movies this weekend didn’t do as well as I expected: “Nights in Rodanthe” was 2nd, but about $2 million less than my prediction.

I’m really surprised that “Miracle at St. Anna” was #9 and earned only $3.50 million considering the huge marketing push and Academy Award buzz around the movie… but sometimes war movies just don’t do well at the box office. 

The surprise of the week is “Fireproof”… a small budget/independent movie in limited release this week, starring Kirk Cameron, but it had the 2nd highest per screen average, second only to “Eagle Eye”.

TOP 10 WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (studio estimates):

1. “Eagle Eye” - $29.20 million (1st week)

2. “Nights in Rodanthe” - $13.57 million (1st week)

3. “Lakeview Terrace” - $7.00 million (more…)

“Eagle Eye” leads weekend, “Fireproof” makes a surprising showing

The political/conspiracy thriller “Eagle Eye” did not disappoint, but the other new movies this weekend didn’t do as well as I expected: “Nights in Rodanthe” was 2nd, but about $2 million less than my prediction.

I’m really surprised that “Miracle at St. Anna” was #9 and earned only $3.50 million considering the huge marketing push and Academy Award buzz around the movie… but sometimes war movies just don’t do well at the box office. 

The surprise of the week is “Fireproof”… a small budget/independent movie in limited release this week, starring Kirk Cameron, but it had the 2nd highest per screen average, second only to “Eagle Eye”.

TOP 10 WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (studio estimates):

1. “Eagle Eye” - $29.20 million (1st week)

2. “Nights in Rodanthe” - $13.57 million (1st week)

3. “Lakeview Terrace” - $7.00 million (more…)

UPDATED September 24, 2008 at 1:00pm:

“Release Dates Are Subject to Change” … glad I added that to this list… because one date change pushed a movie completely out of the Fall/Winter season… “Taken” moves from September 19th to January 23rd !!!  Also moving: “Crossing Over” moves from October 24th to December 3rd and “Blindness” moves from September 26th to October 3rd.

That means “Blindness” moves into to my “15 to See”:

“Blindness” (October 3rd) - everyone is going blind.. except for Julianne Moore… sounds crazy!

.

And that means “The Lucky Ones” (September 26-limited release) moves on to my “Honorable Mentions” list…

Rachel McAdams, Tim Robbins, and Michael Peña star as three soldiers that meet one another as they have all returned from Iraq, and circumstance unites them for a road trip across the country.

—–

Originally Published: September 5, 2008 at 10:48am:

The first week of September… its a signal of back to school and the end of the summer movie season… and I’ve got 15 movies for you to look forward to during the Fall/Holiday Movie Season…

Laff’s Fall/Holiday Movie Preview - 15 to see

15 is a bonus… some people give you a Top 10… but I’m giving you 15…  15 movies over the next 4 months that are likely to be big at the box office and/or fill out the ballots for Academy Award consideration !!!!

(release dates are subject to change)

“Burn After Reading” (September 12th)

New comedy-drama from Ethan and Joel Cohen… with a great cast and cool trailer!!!

Watch the “Burn After Reading” trailer at trailerspy.com

Starring: Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand, George Clooney, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, J.K. Simmons

Plot: A disk containing the memoirs of a CIA agent ends up in the hands of two unscrupulous gym employees who attempt to sell it.

Early look at “Burn After Reading”

—-

“Righteous Kill” (September 12th)

I was ready for this one as soon as they announced Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino would be in the movie together … and they are both police officers.. and the trailer solidified it for me!

“Righteous Kill” trailer at trailerpsy.com

Starring: Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, 50 Cent, Carla Gugino, John Leguizamo, Donnie Wahlberg, Brian Dennehy

Plot: Two veteran New York City detectives (De Niro and Pacino) work to identify the possible connection between a recent murder and a case they believe they solved years ago; is there a serial killer on the loose, and did they perhaps put the wrong person behind bars?

—-

“Taken” (now January 23rd )

I can’t wait to see Liam Neeson back in a leading role kicking some butt !!

Watch the ”Taken” trailer at trailerspy.com

Starring: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, (more…)

Okay, I haven’t done this for several weeks… its been a very busy time, but…. here ya go…

My predictions of the winners and losers at the box office this weekend:

This week, 3 new movies hit theaters in Wide Release on Friday: “Eagle Eye”, “Miracle at St. Anna”, “Nights in Rodanthe”…

…while one of the movies: “Miracle at St. Anna” is likely to get the most Academy Award attention, and “Nights in Rodanthe” is the big date-movie this weekend, the action/thriller “Eagle Eye” will stack ‘em up at the box office this weekend!!!

I also think this is the weekend when “The Dark Knight” could get knocked out of the top 10…

My predictions:

1. “Eagle Eye” - $22 million

2. “Nights in Rodanthe” - $16 million

3. “Miracle at St. Anna” - $12 million

4. ”Burn After Reading” - $10.5 million

5. “Lakeview Terrace” - $10 million (more…)

New movies split up last week’s top 4, lead by Samuel L. Jackson’s “Lakeview Terrace”

Samuel L. Jackson’s bad cop, bad neighbor thriller “Lakeview Terrace” (an Honorable Mention in my 15 movies to see preview !!) tops this week’s box office report, “My Best Friend’s Girl” was 3rd, the animated “Igor” was a respectful 4th… and as expected “Ghost Town” barely showed up in 8th place.. maybe because they didn’t start promoting it until just a few weeks out.. it also got bad reviews.    “Igor” didn’t need much promotion… it was a animated film… with no current competition… it was bound to do pretty well.

While “Burn After Reading” only fell to 2nd in its second week… its important to note that “Righteous Kill” fell fewer spots in its second week than “The Family That Preys” and “The Women”.

I’m seriously warning everyone about waiting for “Bangkok Dangerous” until it hits DVD… and then maybe even waiting a couple weeks, its gone from #1 to #8 to #16 in 3 weeks… CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED AGAIN!!!

Top 10 Weekend Box Office list this week (studio estimates):

1. “Lakeview Terrace” - $15.60 million (1st week)

2. “Burn After Reading” - $11.29 million

(2nd week, was #1 last week, lost 41% of its audience from last week)

3. “My Best Friend’s Girl” - $8.60 million (1st week)

4. “Igor” - $8.01 million (1st week)

5. “Righteous Kill” - $7.70 million

(2nd week, was #3 last week, lost 53% of its audience from last week) (more…)

Quality equals box office quanity: after 2 slow “weak”-ends “Burn After Reading” comes out on top of the 4 new movies this weekend

Joel and Ethan Cohen’s new comedy-drama “Burn After Reading” leads a pack of 4 new movies that includes “Righteous Kill”, “The Family That Preys”, and “The Women”…

…as expected “Bangkok Dangerous” drops from #1 to #8 in its 2nd week, following the downward trend of “Babylon A.D.” and its drop from #2 to #6 to #11 in just 3 weeks.   “Tropic Thunder” and “The Dark Knight” are still hanging around, merely pushed down 4 spots by the 4 new movies.

Top 10 Weekend Box Office list this week (stuido estimates):

1. “Burn After Reading” - $19.40 million (1st week)

2. “The Family That Preys” - $18.02 million (1st week)

3. “Righteous Kill” - $16.50 million (1st week)

4. “The Women” - $10.09 million (1st week)

5. “The House Bunny” - $4.30 million
(4th week, was #4 last week, lost 22% of its audience from last week)

6. “Tropic Thunder” - $4.18 million
(5th week, was #2 last week, lost 42% from last week)

7. “The Dark Knight” - $4.02 million (total gross: $517.68 million)
(9th week, was #3 last week, lost 27% of its audience from last week)

8. “Bangkok Dangerous” - $2.40 million
(2nd week, was #1 last week, lost 69% from last week)

9. “Traitor” - $2.13 million
(3rd week, was #5 last week, lost 50% of its audience from last week)

10. “Death Race” - $2.02 million
(4th week, was #7 last week, lost 46% of its audience from last week)

—

Chasing History:

“The Dark Knight” continues to (more…)

DeNiro and Pacino are back and doing what they’re best at: crime drama

This is one of the 5 best movies I’ve seen this year… and the best crime drama I’ve seen since “The Departed” and just about as good!!!

And while this probably won’t get an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture, it could get an acting nomination for DeNiro or Pacino…

… or the Academy will probably just overlook them because they are sooo good in these roles, that they make it look effortless!!

(there’s a reason its 1 of my 15 movies to see preview !!)

“Righteous Kill”

(2008) (rated: R for violence, pervasive language, some sexuality and brief drug use) (1 hr, 41 min)

Starring: Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, 50 Cent, Carla Gugino, John Leguizamo, Donnie Wahlberg, Brian Dennehy

Genre: Crime/Drama

The Plot: Two veteran New York City detectives (De Niro and Pacino) work to identify the possible connection between a recent murder and a case they believe they solved years ago; is there a serial killer on the loose, and did they perhaps put the wrong person behind bars?

MY TAKE (spoiler free):

This is the first time these 2 Hollywood heavyweights have shared the screen since 1995’s “Heat” (a personal favorite)… DeNiro and Pacino play two NYPD Detectives so well that you’d think they’ve been in these roles for years… like it was a TV show turned into a movie!

The action and tension is perfect all the way through… as (more…)